Manchester United are ‘too big’ to struggle, right? Michael Owen thinks so…
We’ve been saying this for over 10 years.
Manager David Moyes took over the title-winning team in 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired, but was unable to continue the season as Man United finished seventh in the Premier League.
Manchester United won the Premier League in the 2012/13 season with a cantering 89 points, so the 2013/14 season was “too big” to be anything other than temporary.
good…
It’s 2025 and Man United haven’t won the Premier League title since Sir Alex’s final season. They have qualified for the Champions League just six times in this period and have yet to make it past the quarter-finals, but that was exactly what Moyes was aiming for.
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Despite their struggles on the pitch, Man United remain one of the biggest clubs in the world, but that is proving to be not enough to guarantee a comeback.
The past two seasons have seen them finish 15th and 8th, both of which were their worst seasons in Premier League history.
They continue to pour money into players, but players consistently struggle to develop at Old Trafford. World-class players have come and gone over the past 12 years, but very few have actually played at a world-class level for Man United. Bruno Fernandes and Zlatan Ibrahimovic come to mind, while Casemiro and Cristiano Ronaldo have had a world-class year.
Glenn Moore of the Independent said in January 2014 that Man United were “too big to fall into mediocrity”. They aren’t, and they are.
Eight months later, Premier League boss Richard Scudamore claimed Man United were “too big to continue to struggle”.
In the past, countless pundits and supporters have stated that the Red Devils are simply “too big to keep failing”. At one point, they were “too big to go down.” We argued otherwise.
But with the big milestone of 2025, former Man United players still insist it is only a matter of time before they succeed again, and their main argument is simply that they are ‘too big’ to do so.
Former Man United striker Owen wants manager Ruben Amorim to give supporters something concrete to give them hope that they can return to their glory days, something Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag have all failed to deliver.
“I think United fans will be patient if they see something,” Owen said. “I don’t think anyone expects them to suddenly win the league based on how they’ve been doing for the last 10 years.
“Supporters just want to see a bit of a plan, even if they lose. They want to see some progress, something to hang their hat on.
“I think what Manchester United fans are struggling with right now is that they have new hopes under a new manager. Amorim hasn’t delivered and hasn’t given them any reason to think that things can get much better in the future. That’s the problem.”
“The pundits and the fans just go round and round. If you look at Manchester United’s problems over the years, it was the manager who was blamed.
“These kinds of projects do happen in big teams. It happened with Liverpool in the 90s. It happened a bit with Arsenal after[Arsene]Wenger left, when they were trying to find the right manager, the right players, the right fixes.”
“It took time at Manchester United. There is no sign of it now, but it will work out eventually. It could take two years, it could take four years, it could take six years, it could take 10 years. But we all know that Manchester United will win the Premier League again.”
“They are too big, too rich and too good a club not to do it. The only question is when they can get everything right.”
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